


The Power of Pizza

by jane_x80



Series: The Boy In The Sailor Suit [1]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Kid Fic, Kid Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-14 19:28:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7187054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jane_x80/pseuds/jane_x80
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Agent Caitlin Todd is watching little Anthony DiNozzo, Jr. while his parents are being interrogated by Gibbs. He is too quiet and she tries to draw him out.</p><p>For the <a href="http://ncis-discuss.livejournal.com/44863.html">NCIS "Adult + Kidfic Interaction" Drabble Challenge</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	The Power of Pizza

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rose_malmaison](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rose_malmaison/gifts).



> rose_malmaison posted an entry on LJ, discussing how to stretch ourselves as writers and as part of the discussion I mentioned that I hadn't written anything involving children, and that I had only written one drabble and had found that word count limitation extremely challenging. And suddenly I was roped into writing both a 500-word drabble AND a kid!fic! Well played, rose! Looking forward to your entry! Thanks for beta-ing my story.
> 
> This drabble is for the [NCIS "Adult + Kidfic Interaction" Drabble Challenge](http://ncis-discuss.livejournal.com/44863.html), and also for rose_malmaison, an author and artist that I love and admire. Thank you for all your support and encouragement. And now, thank you for challenging me to go out of my comfort zone in multiple ways!
> 
> The Drabble Challenge rules (paraphrased) are as follows:  
> ` Write a 500-word story. Don't count the title and headers as part of the 500 words.  
> ` NCIS characters. Use any characters you want, any combination; just choose one adult and at least one character as a child.  
> ` The adult can be a parent, mentor, teacher, neighbor, relative or whatever you choose.  
> ` The child can be any age from newborn up to age 17.  
> Click on the link above to check out all the rules.

Kate watched as the little boy in the sailor suit sat in the chair at the empty desk diagonally across from her Boss’s, reading quietly while Gibbs interrogated his high society parents. He wasn’t terribly big for his age and looked even tinier in the office chair. In the thirty minutes that his parents had been gone, he hadn’t asked about them, or looked up from his book, or even tried to spin the chair around and around like Kate’s nephews and nieces would have. His brown hair flopped into his face adorably and he kept pulling his hand out of his mouth when he discovered that he was chewing on a fingernail. She wondered why a 5-year-old would have such a nervous habit.

“Anthony?”

He looked up, his green eyes huge in his face. “Yes, Agent Todd?”

“What are you reading?”

Shyly he held up his book, showing her its title.

“ _Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_? A little…advanced for your age, isn’t it?”

“Nanny says I’m pwecocious,” came the reply, before he turned back to his book.

“Are you hungry? Want some pizza?” All of Kate’s nephews and nieces _loved_ pizza.

“I’m not allowed,” Anthony said softly.

“You’re allowed to eat food that I give to you. I’m a federal agent, remember? It’s not like taking candy from a stranger.”

Anthony’s eyes widened. “Mother says pizza isn’t appwopwiate. I’m only allowed healthy, balanced meals made with owganic ingwedients. But thank you.”

Polite, yet definitely a no. Great vocabulary and syntax for a 5-year-old, but his little speech impediment was ridiculously cute. Kate watched as he returned to his book, small hands flipping the pages as quiet as a mouse.

“Do you at least _like_ pizza?” she asked.

Anthony looked up and slowly nodded, eyes widening even more at this admission.

“I’m getting myself pizza. I won’t tell your mother if you have a slice,” she said, tempting him.

Anthony pursed his lips, revealing deep dimples, while he thought it through. Kate wanted to pinch his cheeks. “Okay,” he finally said.

When Kate put a large slice of sausage, pepperoni and extra cheese pizza on a plate in front of him, he thanked her politely before chowing down. Unlike her brothers’ kids, he ate neatly and quietly, without dripping cheese or sauce on himself.

“Another slice, Anthony?” she offered, as he put the last bite in his mouth.

“No, thank you,” he answered, mouth full. “I’m full.”

“You sure, Anthony?”

He nodded. “Call me Tony,” he said, grinning impishly, flashing his last mouthful of half-masticated pizza at her, his big green eyes shining with mischief. “This is the beginning of a beautiful fwiendship.” Tony’s flawless imitation of Bogart was only marred by his high-pitched child’s voice and his adorable speech impediment.

Amazed at the transformation in his now-animated face, Kate couldn’t help but hope that his parents wouldn’t break his spirit, as this lovely boy, one Anthony DiNozzo Jr. was going to grow up to be a heartbreaker one day.

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, my 4 1/2 year old son reads like a 10-year-old and speaks in full and complex sentences. However he cannot say his Rs to save his life. They always sound like Ws. Last year he finally figured out how to say Ls properly or he would literally sound like Elmer Fudd. He would also have been spinning the office chair until somebody yells at him to stop, or he flies right off, whichever comes first. ;)
> 
> Also, for whatever reason, [I Was Watching You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S56BXEPUBjU) by Rosanne Cash kept going through my head while I was writing this story. It's nowhere near as sad as the song but I guess a song about the loss of a parent seemed appropriate since a few years after this Tony will lose his mom, and well, we all know what his father is like.
> 
> [rose_malmaison](http://archiveofourown.org/users/rose_malmaison/pseuds/rose_malmaison) writes some of the most awesome NCIS fics. If you haven't already, go check her out!


End file.
